Demon Magic
by Asiam
Summary: YYH/Harry Potter crossover. Voldemort has gotten hold of an artifact that allows him to summon demons into the living world. The Spirit Detectives are in the wizarding world to get it back.
1. Houses

Disclaimer:  Harry Potter and his universe are the property of J. K. Rowling and whomever she's chosen to sell it to.  Yu Yu Hakusho belongs to Togashi Yoshihiro.  I am neither of these people.  Please don't sue.

For anyone wondering about why all the characters from Japan are speaking English, just blame it on the dubbed version of YYH.  

**_Demon Magic_**

_Chapter 1:  Houses_

Professor Minerva McGonagall stood in a small chamber just off the entrance hall of Hogwarts, properly intimidating all of the First Years gathered there as she ran through the introductory speech.  Well, almost all of them.  Even McGonagall's famous glare faltered and failed when it encountered the group in the back of the room.

There were four students there who did not fit with the rest.  They stood together like a small island in the sea of eleven-year-olds, too old and too tall for the children around them.

                The largest of the group was a young man of around fifteen with short red hair falling to a point over his forehead and a small cat in his arms.  There was another red-head next to him, but this one wore her -- his?  McGonagall was not sure which pronoun applied -- hair long.  Quite a lovely child, whatever the gender.  The third was definitely female -- a young woman with pale blue hair (McGonagall wondered if the color was a statement of youth fashions or simply the result of a bad potion) who was currently glaring at the last member of the group, a boy with slicked-back dark hair...

                ...who had apparently fallen asleep, and was starting to snore.

                McGonagall opened her mouth to both wake up and reprimand the student when the blue-haired girl took care of it for her.

                _SMACK!_

                "Ouch!  Damn it, Botan, what was that for?" the dark-haired boy said as he rubbed at the rising bump on his head.

                (McGonagall blinked, wondering why the blue-haired girl was holding an oar, and where she had gotten it from.  Granted, the strange students had arrived on the boats with the rest of the First Years, but the boats around Hogwarts did not use such mundane means to propel themselves.)

                "Shh, and pay attention!" the blue-haired girl hissed at him.  "This isn't like your old school, you know!"

                "Yeah, here you can actually see the ghosts.  That would have come in pretty handy, once," the boy said, oblivious to McGonagall's glare.

                The taller of the two redheads shivered and hugged his cat closer.  "I don't know, Urameshi.  I think it's kind of creepy.  Did you see the one with all the blood on him?"

                One of the First Years in front of the strange group snorted and muttered "Fool."  The voice was quite a bit deeper than the average eleven-year-old's.  McGonagall took a better look at the speaker.  Deep red eyes met her own, under a shock of dark hair that chose to ignore gravity.  The boy's glare could match McGonagall's best.  

                The professor mentally upped her Strange Student count to five.  She turned to leave and found Dumbledore waiting in the doorway.

                "Good evening, Minerva," he said with a smile that encompassed everyone in the chamber.  "They are just about ready for you in the main hall.  I thought that I'd stop by and greet the new arrivals before they were sorted."  And with that the headmaster moved through the room, exchanging a few words with the First Years.

                The children from wizarding families all knew Dumbledore and looked at him with something like awe.  Whispered rumors of the headmaster's reputation quickly reached the muggle-born students as well, most of whom grew even more intimidated.

                Yusuke, on the other hand, had his customary reaction to authority and stared challengingly at the old wizard.

                "Yusuke Urameshi, I presume?" the headmaster said with a twinkle in his eyes as he stopped by the Urameshi team.  "Master Genkai has told me quite a bit about you."

                "You know Genkai?" Botan asked.

                "We are old friends.  In fact, I was hoping that she would teach our Defense Against the Dark Arts course this year.  Unfortunately, she said…now how did it go?  'One student is more than enough trouble, Albus.  There's no way I'm taking on several hundred.  Besides, do you really think your school would survive my teaching style?"  Dumbledore sighed.  "I must admit she has a point.  Still, I've never met anyone with quite as effective a 'defense' against dark magics.  Oh, well."  Dumbledore nodded at them.  "Welcome to Hogwarts, and now I believe it's time to begin the Sorting."

*************

                All of the new students except the five strange ones had been sorted into their houses when Dumbledore addressed the hall again.

                "I would like to express my greetings to all of our new arrivals, and wish you all a good first year.  Now there is some additional business to take care of before we begin the feast."

                Dumbledore looked around the room and laughed.  "Before any of you get too worried, Quidditch matches will take place as usual.  And there will be five new students to see them."

"This year we have the honor of hosting five students from Japan, who have come to learn about Western Magic.  They will be joining our Fifth Year class, and I am counting on all of you to make them feel welcome here.  Now, if the students would step forward to be sorted…"  Dumbledore allowed his speech to trail off, and smiled over to McGonagall.

                The Transfiguration professor scanned the scroll in front of her for any hints of what to do with these new students.  She saw nothing.  Then, in sudden suspicion, she flipped the scroll over.

                Five names were written on the back.

                McGonagall sighed and read them off.

                "Botan!"

                The blue-haired girl (minus the oar, which had disappeared at some point) bounced forward and let the Hat settle over her hair.

                "Quite unusual," said the Hat, inside her head, "I don't think we've ever had a Grim Reaper in the student body before.  I would have expected something darker.  Hmm…let's see…not a bad mind, if a bit forgetful…a dedicated worker…a great deal of loyalty to your friends, and the courage to act on it…quite a bit of courage, but I suppose if you're going to watch out for your particular friends, you need it.  Well, that's an easy enough decision.  GRYFFINDOR!"  The last word was shouted to the hall, and the Gryffindor table started cheering loudly.  Botan laughed a little nervously and walked over to take a seat there.           

                "Jaganshi, Hiei!"

                If the Sorting Hat possessed the ability to sweat-drop, it would have done so now at the mind under the hat.  Here was ambition enough, and a great deal of raw power to back it.  This child -- no, make that demon -- had already tried to take over the world once.  Add in a flash-fire temper and general bad attitude just for good measure.

And all that was locked behind an honor code so deep that any old-fashioned samurai would shave off his top-knot in envy.

                All that power, and the will to use it...but if the Hat tried to place this one in Slytherin, he'd most likely burn down the school within the month.  Besides, that House didn't really fit with the honor code.

                The Sorting Hat thought hard and decided to place this one in the house he was least likely to blow up.

                "GRYFFINDOR!" 

                "Kuwabara, Kazuma!"

                If Kuwabara had thought the ghosts were creepy, it was nothing compared to how he felt about a talking hat.  At least he'd dealt with ghosts before.

                The Hat didn't seem to care at all and muttered away.

                "Hmm, another one with an honor code…though a lot of it seems to deal with kittens…a great deal of loyalty to your friends as well…  Oh, no.  I should have guessed.  Another one with more courage than is good for them, who'll jump into a fight without thinking of the consequences…and you had to be in the fifth year class as well.  No help for it, I suppose.  You're GRYFFINDOR!"   

                "Minamino, Shuichi!"

                "Hmm...you would have fit quite well into Slytherin not too long ago, wouldn't you have?  But that's not the place for you anymore.  Quite a good mind, though no lack of courage or loyalty...Ravenclaw should do..."

                But before the Hat could shout its decision to the hall, Kurama sent it a quiet thought.  _I would rather be with my friends, if that is all right_.

                "Are you sure?  You would be more at home in Ravenclaw, you know."

Kurama smiled.  The Sorting Hat was suddenly aware of just how many plants Kurama carried in his hair and exactly how much destruction they could cause.  And the Sorting Hat, for all of its magic, was still just a thing of leather and glue.  

                "Maybe Slytherin wouldn't be so far off after all," the Hat muttered.  One of the thorns on Kurama's trademark rose lengthened dangerously.  "All right, all right, be GRYFFINDOR!"

                Kurama calmly handed the Hat back to McGonagall and walked over to join Botan, Kuwabara, and Hiei.

                "Hey, all right!" Kuwabara said, slapping him on the back.  "I thought for sure you'd end up in Ravenclaw."

                Kurama just smiled again. 

                "Urameshi, Yusuke!"  

                The Sorting Hat was placed on Yusuke's head and sat there silently for some minutes.  Yusuke's expression changed from mild apprehension, to boredom, to irritation.  And Yusuke did not take well to irritation.   

                "Hey, hello?!  Could you get on with this 'Sorting' stuff already?"

                "Oh, sorry," the Hat told him, still sounding distracted, "That's easy enough.  You're another Gryffindor."

                "So why don't you tell everyone else and let me out of here?"

                "Umm...curiosity.  I am supposed to be able to see all of a person's characteristics and a fair share of his or her history as well.  Even with that, I can't tell whether you are quite clever or just insanely lucky.  First time that's ever happened to me."

                Yusuke gritted his teeth and thought about spirit-gunning the Hat.  The Hat called out "GRYFFINDOR!" in a hurry, and Yusuke joined his friends at the Gryffindor table.

                At the teachers' table in the front of the hall, Dumbledore hid his smile behind a glass of wine.

***********

                The students had been led off to their dormitories hours before and still McGonagall paced around the great hall, thinking over the events of the day.

                Watching over her house was difficult enough with Potter in it.  Now she had five more children to worry about (besides the ordinary first years), and all of her witch's instincts were telling her that this group was a trouble-magnet to rival Harry.  

It was odd that all five of them had ended up in Gryffindor.  Did they have some special need for courage?  Or were there other forces at work? 

She shook her head at the last thought.  The only wizard she knew with the power to rig the Sorting was Dumbledore himself.  And, being Dumbledore, he would never do such a thing.  Still, he had seemed pleased with the Hat's choices.  

                Alone in the hall, McGonagall sighed.  "Albus, what have you gotten us into this time?"  


	2. Gryffindors and Classes

_Disclaimer_:  I still don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.  Not Harry Potter, either.  Sigh.

**_Chapter 2:  Gryffindors and Classes_**

                Eikichi and Crookshanks cautiously sniffed at each other in the Gryffindor common room.  Each apparently decided that the other feline was tolerable.  Both cats curled up comfortably by the fire.

                The human (well, human-looking) members of the Urameshi team sat nearby, trying to decide what courses they wanted (in Kurama, Botan, and Kuwabara's cases) or had to (for Hiei and Yusuke) take.  

                "Charms, Defense Against Dark Arts, Potions, and History of Magic are all required classes, as are Transfiguration and Herbology.  We should each take at least two other classes as well."  Kurama said as he looked over the scrolls.

                "You've got to be kidding me," Yusuke said.

                "No, some students take far more than eight classes," Botan said.  "And before you ask, you really do have to go to all your classes, Yusuke."

                "All right, so which of them look easy?" 

                Kurama scanned the list.  "Try Muggle Studies -- it deals with living in the non-magic world.  You've done that before; I don't think you'll have any problems."

                "That's one.  What else?"

                One of the other Gryffindors, a boy with bright red hair, looked over at the list.  "Hey!  You're not taking 'Care of Magical Creatures' yet.  You should try it.  Hagrid teaches it, and he's awesome -- as long as he hasn't gotten hold of any dragons or giant spiders or anything like that.  And Hagrid practically never gives homework."

                "Ron!  That's no reason to take a class!" a brown-haired girl next to him said.

                Yusuke shrugged.  "Sounds good enough to me," he said, and Kurama laughed softly.

                "Don't encourage him!" the brown-haired girl said.  "I'm Hermione Granger, by the way."

                "And I'm Ron Weasely, and that's Harry Potter over there." said the red-head, waving towards a black-haired boy.

                "Hi," Yusuke said.  "You Fifth years too?"

                The Gryffindor common room suddenly fell very quiet.

                "Umm…you did hear what he said, didn't you?" one of the older students asked the Japanese student.  "Potter?  Harry Potter?"

                "Yeah, yeah, yeah, and the other ones are Ron and Hermione.  Got it."  He turned back to Ron.  "No homework, right?  I'm in."

                In the end, all five spirit detectives decided to sign up for Care of Magical Creatures.  Yusuke couldn't find anything that looked easier than Muggle Studies, while Kuwabara and Botan would take Divinations instead.  The entire team decided that Hiei needed to learn more about "muggles" (and humans in general) and so signed him into Muggle studies.  That way Yusuke could keep an eye on the short-tempered fire demon and hopefully keep him from frying anyone.  Kurama would be in the class as well -- mostly to watch the other two.  The fox was taking Ancient Runes as well.  Yusuke had to wonder which course would be easier for him.  

                It was getting late by that time.  The younger students (and a good portion of the older ones as well) were yawning, and the prefects were starting to say things about the need to be rested for classes in the morning.  The spirit detectives allowed themselves to be led off to the bedrooms.  The four boys would share a room, while Botan would bunk with the Gryffindor girls.

****************

                The boys were awakened by a tapping sound against their window in the middle of the night.  Yusuke groggily looked out to see Botan hovering there.  He opened the window and let her in.    

"Hi, Botan," Kuwabara muttered, waking up.  Then he blinked and shrieked, "AHH! Botan! This is the _boys' tower!  You can't be in here!"  _

                The others shushed him while Botan chided cheerfully, "Oh, don't be silly, Kuwabara.  I just came up to talk to you and make sure everything is all right.  Anyway, no one else can see me at the moment," she said, pointing down at the pink kimono that had replaced her black Hogwarts robes."

                Kurama shook his head.  "I wouldn't be so sure of that, not here.  Dumbledore has quite a reputation for seeing what others can not.  Does Koenma have some new information for us?"   

                "Not on Voldemort, unfortunately.  He did tell me that your wands are ready and should be here tomorrow.  That's very good news -- you'll need them for your classes, and Koenma wasn't certain they'd be ready on time."

                "What about the artifact?  Did he find anything about that?"

                "No, Not yet," Botan said.

                "You know, it would be nice if - just for once - we knew both _who_ and _what we were looking for," Yusuke said to Hiei and Kurama.  "I think the closest Koenma's ever come to that was when he sent me after you guys, and all he knew then were your names."_

                "You wouldn't have listened to him anyway," Kurama murmured as Botan hurriedly tried to change the subject.

                "So, what do you think of Hogwarts so far?"

                "This place is really strange, Botan.  I mean, ghosts just walk around and talk to you like it's normal!  And that one guy's head practically came off!" said Kuwabara.

                "Well, duh, it's a magic school.  Were you expecting it to be normal?" Yusuke scoffed.  "But what's with what's-his-name?  The kid downstairs.  Harry.  It was like everybody expected me to know it or something."

                Kurama, unsurprisingly, was the one to explain.  "Harry Potter is something of a celebrity in the wizarding world.  You see, Harry was the cause of Voldemort's first downfall.  Voldemort attacked his family when he was just an infant.  Voldemort killed the boy's parents, but when he tried to kill Harry himself, something went wrong.  Voldemort lost most of his powers instead.  Did you notice the scar on his forehead?  He's had that since the attack.

                "Voldemort had held some sort of reign of terror over the wizarding world, but that ended when he lost his powers.  And somehow Harry Potter was responsible for that loss…and the fourteen years of relative peace since then.  To wizards -- good wizards, at least -- he is a hero.

                "I've heard rumors that Voldemort has tried to attack Harry again, several times, since he came to Hogwarts.  The boy has somehow been able to fend him off each time.  It's likely, however, that Harry will be a particular target if Voldemort starts summoning demons."

                "So this kid's faced off against an evil overlord a couple of times and won.  Think he can take on a couple of demons?" Yusuke said.

                Hiei snorted.  "No."

                Kurama answered more thoughtfully.  "Any wizard has a better chance against a demon than a human without magic -- or the ability to manipulate his or her spirit energy, as you and Kuwabara do.  And there are several wizards with whom I would not wish to fight, Voldemort and Dumbledore among them."  He saw the look in Yusuke's eyes.  "No, Yusuke, you can not challenge the headmaster to a fight right now."

                "How about after we finish this mission?" 

                "Then you're on your own.  Now, as I was saying, Harry Potter and wizards in general are far from helpless, but they are also not used to dealing with demons.  We should keep an eye on him, especially when he leaves the school itself.  That is when he'll be in the most danger, and when we must be the most careful."

                "So what do we do now?" Kuwabara asked.  "Unless Koenma comes up with something, we can't even find the…the…the _thing_ until Voldemort uses it."

                "And then we may be up to our eyeballs in demons," Yusuke added.

                "Well, for right now, we go to sleep," said Kurama.  And after Botan had left for her own room, they did.

******************

                The Urameshi team was called to Dumbledore's office early the next morning to receive their wands.                Mr. Ollivander had brought them from Diagon Alley himself and was waiting to see how they were received.

                "Quite an unusual group of materials," the old man said, blinking his pale eyes as he lifted out the wand-boxes.  "And of course it is strange to have so many custom orders at once."

                "Ah, Mr. Urameshi," the wand-maker handed the first box to Yusuke.  "Phoenix feather and oak, twelve inches.  Sturdy.  The feather came from a blue phoenix, I believe.  A most rare creature, and a powerful core.  Go on and give it a wave."

                Feeling rather foolish, Yusuke did so.  A stream of golden sparks shot from the end of it, scorching the far wall and narrowly avoiding singing Mr. Ollivander's eyebrows.

                "As I said, quite powerful," Mr. Ollivander said, undisturbed, as he pulled out the next wand.  "Mr. Jaganshi.  Dragon heartstring and ebony, eleven and three-quarters.  Very strong.  Try it out, please."  He handed the wand to Hiei.

                Hiei swung it like a sword.  A wave of black fire poured out to add to the destruction of the far wall.

                "Yes, quite suitable.  Now for Mr. Minamino.  Kitsune hair and cherry, eleven inches.  Swishy.  A tricky core, that one."

                "You didn't." Yusuke whispered to Kurama.

                "This from the person who plucked Puu for his wand core?" Kurama murmured back, taking his wand.  He gave it a gentle flick, and the air was suddenly full of falling flowers.

                Mr. Ollivander nodded in satisfaction.  "Mr. Kuwabara.  Hiroseke stone and redwood, thirteen inches" -- Ollivander was interrupted at this point by Hiei.

                "WHAT?!"

                Luckily, Yusuke caught the fire-demon before he could inflict actual harm on Kuwabara.

                "Calm it, Hiei!  If you kill Kuwabara, Koenma will have to send me after you and there's no way I want to go through that again.  And Kuwabara didn't make her cry or anything.  Yukina just gave him the stone when she heard about the wands."   

                Hiei subsided reluctantly.  It was easy being angry at the idiot.  It was much harder to admit to being jealous that Kuwabara had a gift from his sister while he did not.  Kurama laid a hand on Hiei's shoulder in silent understand.  The fire-demon just glared at the wall.  Parts of it started to smolder.

Kuwabara had been so lost in thoughts of his lovely Yukina that he hadn't even noticed Hiei's outburst.  Now he lifted his wand, waved it, and started a small snowstorm.    

                "I'm sorry, young lady," Mr. Ollivander said to Botan.  "I do not have a wand for you.  You did not order one, did you?"

                "Oh, no, I already have my own," Botan said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out what looked like a miniature version of her oar.  

                "Well, now that that's all taken care of…"  Dumbledore said, raising his own wand.  The damage to the office instantly repaired itself.  "I believe you students have classes soon, but there should still be time for breakfast."


	3. Potions and Brooms

_Standard disclaimers still apply.  I own nothing. Even my brain is leased._

****

**_Chapter 3:  Of Potions and Brooms_**

                The new Fifth Years came down to breakfast a little late and were immediately surrounded by other students from all houses.   Harry watched with Ron and Hermione from the far end of the Gryffindor table.  He grinned, pleased to not be the center of attention for once.  

                "So what do we have first?" Harry asked.

                Hermione checked her schedule.  "Double Potions.  With the Slytherins, as always."

                Ron groaned.  "Great.  What a way to start the year."

****************

Harry wished he knew what Snape had been up to over the summer.  Whatever it was, it seemed to have left the Potions Master feeling particularly evil.  The first thing Snape did when the Gryffindors and Slytherins came into class was to divide them into groups of three.  And, claiming that the new Fifth Years -- and most of the old ones as well -- should get to know _all their fellow students better, Snape mandated that no group could belong to just one house.  _

When the students did not move quickly enough, Snape started assigning partners.  So Harry found himself working with Malfoy and the dark-haired Japanese student, Yusuke.  Ron hadn't faired much better: he was stuck with Goyle and Kuwabara.  The larger red-head seemed friendly enough, but was staring at his cauldron like he'd never seen one before.  Hermione would be fine in any group -- she was too smart for anything to _really go wrong -- but it probably wouldn't be pleasant working with Milicent Bulstrode from Slytherin and the most unfriendly of the new students, Hiei._

                A small moan off to the side reminded Harry that they weren't the only three to suffer: Snape had placed Neville in the same group as Crabbe.  Neville was shaking as he approached his table, where the oversized Slytherin and the smaller red-headed Japanese student were waiting.

                "I don't know who to feel worse for, Neville or the new boy," Hermione whispered to Harry as she gathered up her things to move to her own table.

                Harry nodded.  Neville was hopeless at Potions under the best of circumstances (which did not include having Crabbe for a partner).  And Crabbe, besides being a bully, was rather less intelligent than Neville's toad.

The redhead must not have known this.  He smiled at Neville.  "Hello.  You're also a Gryffindor, aren't you? I'm Shuichi." 

                "And you're Crabbe, correct?" Kurama turned to the Slytherin, who nodded.  "I'm pleased to meet you both.  Now, let's see what we're supposed to be doing…"

                With smiles and courtesy, Kurama took charge of his table.

                Hermione read over the instructions once more, trying to ignore her teammates.  Milicent had been insulting her non-stop since they'd started working.

                Hiei didn't say a word.  There was just something disturbing about the joy he seemed to find in chopping the ingredients into extremely small pieces.

                Ron, Goyle, and Kuwabara stared at their cauldron.  They looked up to stare at each other.

                Stared at the cauldron again.  Stared at each other.  Cauldron.  Other.  Cauldron…

                Harry sat down at the table and glared at Draco across the cauldron. Yusuke leaned back in his own chair and looked back and forth between the two of them. "So…" Yusuke started, "What's up with this potion thing? Is it like chemistry or something?"

                Harry and Draco turned their attention to Yusuke, each looking somewhat bewildered. "Umm... sort of," Harry said cautiously. 

                Draco snorted and reached for the instructions for their potion, wondering what chemistry was.

********************

                Snape glanced at his hourglass.  "All right, that's long enough.  If you somehow managed to follow instructions correctly, you should now have a potion for hair-growth -- something quite popular with a number of older wizards, or those that have some small trouble with explosions -- in your cauldron.  There is only one way to find out for certain.  Each group must test their potion.  Don't worry.  None of the ingredients are _particularl_y toxic."

                Dead silence reigned through the hall, soon to be broken by groans.

                Harry, Draco, and Yusuke stood over their cauldron.  Their…attempt…had turned a funny shade of green, while most of the other cauldrons were giving off purple smoke.  Its smell didn't help their confidence much, either.

                "Dare you," Draco hissed to Harry.

                "No chance." Harry replied.

                Yusuke looked at both of them, shrugged, and grabbed a cup.

                _BUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!_

                "I _think_ we did everything right," Hermione said, ladling some of their potion into a cup.  "Who wants to test it?"

                Milicent looked from Hermione's bushy hair to Hiei's spiky locks and snickered.

                The fire demon stared impassively at the Slytherin girl.  Then, in a movement too swift for ordinary human eyes, he poured the potion down her throat.

                Milicent coughed and sputtered as her hair lengthened by several feet.

                "Hn.  Worked," Hiei said with a certain amount of satisfaction.

                Ron, Goyle, and Kuwabara stared at the bubbling concoction in their cauldron.  

                "Uh-uh.  No way am I drinking that," Ron said.

                "Yeah.  Me neither," Kuwabara echoed.

                Goyle just grunted.  The two red-heads looked at him, considering…but Goyle was approximately twice Ron's size, and Kuwabara's honor code forbid actually fighting during a lesson.

                "We could feed it to your cat," Ron suggested.

                "Eikichi!  No way!"  Kuwabara looked at the stuff in the cauldron again.  It _glooped.  He gulped.  "I'll do it.  Hand me the glass."                 _

                "Here, drink this," Kurama said as he handed a cup to Crabbe.  The Slytherin boy swallowed without thinking.  A moment later he blinked as his hair cascaded down into his eyes.  

                Kurama surveyed his handiwork.  "Not bad.  Perhaps you should consider leaving it long," he said, fishing an elastic band out of his pocket and handing it to the larger boy.  Crabbe looked at him baffledly from beneath yard-long bangs.

                For the first time that he could remember, Neville smiled in Potions class. 

                "So what was this potion supposed to do again, anyway?" Yusuke asked, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

                "It's a hair-growth potion," Harry said, fascinated.  He waited for the other boy to collapse, or grow fur, or anything like that. 

                "Oh.  Okay.  That's easy enough."  The boy grinned and went Toushin.  

                The dim light of the Potions chamber masked the tattoos that went with the transformation and only highlighted the fact that Yusuke's hair now ended somewhere around his knees.

                Malfoy looked at Harry.  "It worked?  How…?" Harry shrugged.

                Yusuke burped again, just for good measure.

*********************

Classes resumed after the judicious application of scissors and hairbrushes, and, in Yusuke's case, large tubes of hair gel. 

*********************

                "That wasn't so bad," Harry said when he met with Ron and Hermione again on their way to Charms.

                "Speak for yourself," Ron replied.  "It could have been _my hair that turned green."_

                "Well, the potion sort of worked at least.  Kuwabara's hair did get longer."

                "Yeah.  Good thing we didn't feed it to his cat after all. We'd be cleaning up some nasty hairballs."

                Seamus Finnegan (who had been paired with Pansy Parkinson and Botan) had also ended up with bright green hair.  But unlike Kuwabara, Seamus refused all attempts to turn it back to normal.

*****************

                Madam Hooch had heard that the new Fifth Years did not know how to fly, so immediately after classes she called them out to the practice field to learn.  A good portion of Gryffindor house (plus a few Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and even a Slytherin or two) followed to watch.

                "Now hold your hand over the broom and say 'Up!'" Madam Hooch called.

                Four voices shouted, "Up!" back at her.  Hiei just sort of grunted.  The broom leapt into his hand anyway, perhaps because his glare promised scorched bristles if it didn't.  

                Madam Hooch demonstrated the proper grip for flying, and how to sit on your broomstick without sliding off the end.  Then she told them to kick off gently.

                They did.  They floated.  Kuwabara bobbed up and down as if uncertain whether he really wanted to leave the ground while Botan practically vibrated with the desire to fly higher.  

                Madam Hooch looked them over.  "Yes, very good.  I think it would be all right if you took a quick practice flight."

                Botan had shot up into the sky before the instructor had even finished speaking. 

Yusuke grinned evilly and dive-bombed the spectators, nearly falling off his broom in the process.  Kuwabara was falling off his broom anyway, without sending the audience running for cover, but Kurama hovered nearby, lending a hand and advice when necessary. Hiei looked bored, if anything…but then, brooms weren't of much interest to someone who could run faster than a Firebolt.  Meanwhile, Botan swooped around all of them, as at home on the broom as on her oar.

                "Hey, she's not bad," Ron said to Harry, "and the Gryffindor team is short a couple of Chasers this year.  Think she plays Quidditch?"

                "I don't know.  Do they have Quidditch in Japan?" said Harry.

                Even Hermione wasn't sure of the answer to that one, but promised to look it up.  Further conversation was interrupted by the sudden arrival of Yusuke in the middle of their group…from about fifty feet up.

                The Gryffindors dodged out of the way.  Hermione had pulled out her wand, trying to think of some spell to help the faller…too late.  

                Yusuke hit the ground head-first.

                He bounced, then jumped up again, cursing.

                The broomstick fell out of the sky and clonked him on the head.

                "OW!"

                Madam Hooch rushed over to check on the fallen boy and found him swearing at the remains of his broom.  Yusuke kicked it once more for good measure before stalking off.  The crowd parted around him, then turned back to look at the Yusuke-shaped depression in the ground.

                "Hagrid'll have a tough job filling that in," Ron observed.

****************

                Later that night, long after the students had left the Quidditch fields for their towers, something dark stirred in the Forbidden Forest.


	4. If you go out in the woods today

**_Chapter 4:  If you go out in the woods today…_**

                A muffled beeping woke Botan in the middle of the night.  She groped under her pillow and pulled out the source of the beeping -- it looked like some sort of watch.  She checked the face, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, checked again, and gasped.  

She looked around the room to make sure all her roommates were still sleeping.  They were.  Botan quickly pulled on her school robes and snuck out, quietly closing the door behind her.

                A few moments later, Hermione sat up in bed.

                Hermione snuck down the stairs to the common room.  She paused when she heard voices below.  Botan was there, and Hermione thought Yusuke and Kuwabara were as well -- maybe all of the Japanese students -- but the voices were too low for her to be able to make out what they were saying.  Hermione carefully crept down a few more steps and listened.

                "We know already, Botan!  Geez, it's not like we can't sense demons ourselves by now.  How did you fix the compass, anyway? I thought it broke when I went after Rando."

                "It did.  This is a new one.  It's set to locate any demons coming through the summoning ring.  The ring leaves a very specific energy signature; it's quite easy to track."

                "So what are we standing around for?  Let's go kick some ass!"

"It's not that simple, Yusuke!  The school has very strict rules about students wandering around after hours.  You'll be in serious trouble if you get caught.  Besides, with all the uproar in the wizarding world, I'm sure that the headmaster is keeping a close watch on the doors."

Shuichi was speaking now.  "That's easy enough to deal with.  We simply don't use the doors and don't get caught.  The castle is riddled with secret passageways, including one that ends just inside the Forbidden Forest.  Its entrance is near the Slytherin wing.  If we're careful, we should be able to reach it easily and come back the same way."

"Right.  Kurama's got a plan.  Can we go fight monsters now?" Yusuke said.

"All right, all right.  Just be careful," Botan said.

The voices died away.  Hermione climbed down the last few steps and cautiously peeked into the common room.  It was empty.   

Hermione thought for a moment, then took the stairs to the boys' tower.

"Harry, Ron, wake up."

"Huh?  It's the middle of the night, Hermione.  Even you can't want to study now," Ron said muzzily.  Harry fumbled for his glasses.

"The new Fifth Years are trying to sneak out of the castle.  We have to follow them."

"'Kay.  Good night."  Ron rolled over.

Hermione punched him lightly in the shoulder.  "It's not funny, Ron.  They found a secret tunnel over by the Slytherins and they're using it to sneak into the Forbidden Forest."

"Nah,"  Ron mumbled, "can't be a tunnel over there.  'Snot on the map.  You know, the one from Fred 'n George."

"Not if Harry's dad and his friends --you know, Padfoot and company -- didn't know about it, either.  At least, I don't thing it would show any secret passageways that they hadn't found.  Fred and George might know for certain," Hermione argued.

"Mm.  Maybe."  Ron blinked, then squeaked, "Aaaaah!  Hermione! What are you doing in the boys' tower?!"

"Trying to wake you up."

"Hush up, both of you.  You'll wake Neville and Seamus," Harry whispered.

Hermione nodded, pointed back towards the common room, and slipped out the door.  Harry and Ron pulled their school robes over their pajamas and followed.

"So why did you wake us up?" Harry asked when they were all safely downstairs.

"It's the new students.  They're trying to sneak out of the castle and into the Forbidden Forest.  Something strange is going on with them, though I'm not sure what.  I think we should follow them."

                "Wait a minute -- _Hermione_ is suggesting that we break school rules?" Ron said.

                "I must have been hanging around with you two for too long."  Hermione hesitated.  "Besides, every other time that something strange has happened around here, it's ended with someone trying to kill Harry.  Just for once I'd like to know what's going on before it becomes life-threatening."

                Ron looked at Harry.  "She's got a point, you know."

Harry sighed.  "I'll go get the invisibility cloak."

********************

                "Ouch!  Harry, watch where you put your elbows."

                "Sorry.  Ron, you're going to have to crouch down or something or our feet are going to stick out the bottom."

                "You know, this was a lot easier when we were First Years."

                "Yeah.  Go figure, we grew."

                "I don't know whose hand that is, but move it NOW."

*********************

                Hermione filled the others in on the conversation she'd overheard as they crept through the halls under the invisibility cloak.   They were almost to entrance hall when they heard someone moving in the room in front of them.

                They all froze.  A moment later Snape poked his head through the doorway and peered suspiciously down the corridor.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione all held their breath.  Snape glared down the hall once more, then withdrew back into the front room.  The three Gryffindors all breathed again and very quietly retreated to a few rooms away.

                "Snape.  Why is it always Snape?" Harry muttered when they were safely out of hearing range of the front hall.

                "Guess the new kids were right," Ron said, "Dumbledore _is_ taking security seriously right now.  We can't get out that way.  Even if we snuck past Snape, he'd see the door open."

                "Shh!  I have an idea," Hermione whispered.  She led them to a large window on the second floor .   She pushed it open and spoke an incantation.  A rope shot from her wand and attached itself to the windowsill.

                "Hey, cool!  Where did you learn that one?" Ron asked.

                "From your brothers.  Where else?" Hermione answered as she grabbed hold of the rope and slid down.  

                "You know, she's getting awfully good at this stuff," Ron told Harry as he followed Hermione down the rope.

**************************

                The Forbidden Forest was dark, dank, and full of strange noises and stranger shadows.  Harry wondered if it looked any better during the day.  For some reason (possibly the fact that the area was off-limits to students) he always ended up creeping through it in the middle of the night, when shadows were deepest.

                The forest was also huge, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione had no idea of where to search for Botan, Yusuke, and the others.  

                Then part of the forest -- not far from the wandering Gryffindors -- erupted in funny lights and loud thuds.  The Gryffindors agreed that _that was probably the best place to start._

                They were almost to the lights when Hermione gasped and froze.  Harry and Ron, still trying to move forward, got tangled in the invisibility cloak.  All three of them fell over.  Then the boys -- their noses now inches from the ground -- saw the object that had made Hermione stop in the first place.  

                An arm, cleanly severed, lay on the forest floor in a little clearing.  For a long moment Harry thought it was human, but the nails were too long and too thick, more like claws, and the skin had a strange scaly texture.  It did not look like it belonged to any sort of creature that Harry had ever seen.

                Then he noticed that the lights and sounds had died away.

                Hermione grabbed his collar and dragged him back while Ron pulled the invisibility cloak securely over the three of them again.  

                They watched as Hiei stepped into the clearing and picked up the arm.  He contemptuously tossed it onto a small mound nearby.

                It took Harry a long minute to realize that the mound was made up of other bodies, most of them in pieces and all of them not-quite human.  Harry's breath caught in his throat.

                All five of the missing Gryffindors were in the clearing now, though Botan and Kuwabara stayed as far away from the gruesome pile as possible.     

                Shuichi was speaking now.  "The wizards will not know what to make of this if they find it.  Hiei, do you think you could dispose of the evidence for us?"  

                The spiky-haired boy shrugged and lifted an arm.  Fire curled around it, then shot towards the gruesome pile.  The heap burned to ash in seconds.

                Hidden next to Harry, Ron gulped.

                "Um, guys, could you hurry it up?  I think someone's coming," Kuwabara said, glancing nervously back to the castle. 

                "Just give me a moment to hide the ashes," Shuichi said.  Harry watched, but the red-head didn't seem to do anything before turning and dashing back into the forest with the rest of the foreign students.  They passed very close to where the other Gryffindors huddled under the invisibility cloak.

                A minute later Hagrid and Fang bounded into the clearing.         

                Hagrid poked around while Fang sniffed industriously at the undergrowth, coming closer and closer to Harry's hiding place.  Then Fang leaped forward and stuck his nose right under the hood of the invisibility cloak, licking furiously.  Ron whispered, "Hey!  Down, Fang!" as he tried to fend off the worst of the drool.  Hagrid did not notice Fang's antics. 

                "Wonder if we've got glowworms," the groundskeeper muttered, apparently not seeing anything out of the ordinary at the moment.  "Have to keep my eyes out for that.  Here, boy!"  He called.  Fang reluctantly left off licking Ron and returned to Hagrid's side.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione waited until they'd gotten some distance away before making their own retreat to the castle. 

                "What _was_ that?" Ron said when they were back in the common room, a little out of breath still from scrambling up the rope.  "I mean, it wasn't like any magic I've ever seen,"

                "Not like anything I've read about, either," said Hermione. 

                "So what are we going to do about it?" asked Ron.  "Think we should talk to Dumbledore?"

                Harry shrugged.  "I don't know.  I don't know if there is anything we _can _do right now."  The three friends looked at each other uneasily.

                "Do you think it's safe?  Doing nothing?" Ron said, and was answered by more uneasy silence.

                "We'll keep an eye on them, anyway," Hermione said, after a moment.  "At least we know to watch them now."  She thought for a moment.  "I think they said something about demons earlier, while they were talking here.  There must be something about that in the library.  I'll start researching tomorrow.  Maybe I'll find something that can help."

                The three Gryffindors said good night and went to their beds, though none of them expected to sleep very well.


	5. Regarding the Dark Arts

**_Disclaimer: _**_Despite much wishing, I still don't own them.  Any of them.  Sigh._

**_Author's Notes_**_:  The fifth Harry Potter book is now out…but anyone reading this story should already know that.  I'm using some characters and plot from Rowling's book here -- many of the lines of dialogue between the Harry Potter characters are lifted straight from The Order of the Phoenix_ and so may account for an increase in the quality of the writing there.  __

_                There are no _major_ spoilers here, only minor ones, but you may want to be wary if you haven't read the fifth book yet.  _

**_Chapter Five:_**

**_Regarding the Dark Arts_******

                Botan caught the boys in the Gryffindor common room the next morning.

                "Oh, we've got problems!" she whispered, though the room was empty.  Most of the other Gryffindors had already gone down to breakfast.  "I think one of the girls saw me sneak out of the tower last night.  She may have followed us all the way into the woods."

                "So what?" said Yusuke, while Kurama asked, "Do you know which one?"

                "Hermione Granger," answered Botan.  "And, Yusuke, the rest of the school isn't supposed to know what we're doing here!  The wizards may be more aware of demons and spirits than the muggles are, but they're still not supposed to get mixed up in Spirit World business!  Koenma will be in big trouble if too many people find out what's going on."

                "Hermione is one of Harry Potter's closest friends.  It's likely that she'll tell -- or has told -- Harry and Ron Weasely whatever she knows.  However, I doubt that she'd tell anyone other than Harry and Ron -- yet."  Kurama turned to Hiei and Kuwabara.  "Did either of you sense anyone following us last night?"

                Kuwabara scratched his head.  "Uh-uh, but I was kind of concentrating on the demons." Hiei just shrugged.

                "So what do we do now?" Yusuke asked, unconsciously echoing Ron's question from the night before.

                "Watch, and be cautious," said Kurama.  "But this may not be a bad thing.  If Hermione saw us, she'll warn the others to be on guard.  I wanted to pass a warning along to Harry and his friends anyway, but could see no safe way of doing so.  Now Hermione can do it for us."

                Yusuke snorted.  "Yeah.  The only problem is that they'll probably be on guard against us, too."

                "As they should be," said Hiei.   

                "Um, he _is_ still on the good side, isn't he?" Kuwabara whispered nervously to Botan.

                "Well, _our_ side, anyway," she whispered back.  "I think."

**************               

The Gryffindors filed quietly into the Defense Against Dark Arts Classroom.  The ministry appointed-teacher, Professor Umbridge, was still an unknown quality; no one knew how strict a disciplinarian she would be, and no one wanted to be the first to find out.

                Well, most of them were quiet, anyway.  Yusuke was complaining loudly about the amount of homework they'd already been given -- not that he planned on doing any of it -- while Botan hissed at him to be quiet.  Finally Botan clapped her hand over his mouth and dragged him to a seat in the back of the room, just behind Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei slid onto chairs around them.

                "Well, good afternoon!" said Professor Umbridge when the rest of the class had sat down as well.

                A few people mumbled, "Good afternoon" in reply.

                "Tut, tut," said Professor Umbridge.  "_That_ won't do, now, will it?  I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.'  One more time, please.  Good afternoon, class!"

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," most of the class replied.  Kurama, Kuwabara, and Botan had chanted along dutifully with the rest of the Gryffindors, but Hiei only grunted and Yusuke stared incredulously at the teacher.

                "There, now," said Professor Umbridge, sweetly.  "That wasn't too difficult, was it?  Wands away and quills out, please."

                As the class dug through their bags for parchment, pen, and ink, Yusuke leaned over to Kurama.  "Is she for real?"

                "I'm afraid so," Kurama whispered back, pulling out his quill and beginning to copy the list titled "Course aims" from the blackboard.

_1.  Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic._

_2.  Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used._

_3.  Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use._

                When everyone had copied down Professor Umbridge's course aims, she said, "Has everybody got a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"_

                Yusuke checked his bag for the book as the rest of the class muttered dully in agreement.

                "I think we'll try that again," said Professor Umbridge.  "When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.'  So, has everyone got a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

                The class (except for Hiei and Yusuke) answered, "Yes, Professor Umbridge."

                "Good," said Professor Umbridge.  "I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, 'Basics for Beginners.'  There will be no need to talk."

                Yusuke flipped his book open, turned to page five, read the first sentence, decided the textbook was crap, and stared around the room in boredom.  After a minute he noticed he wasn't the only one not reading the chapter.  Hermione, just in front of him, hadn't even opened her book, but had her hand in the air.  Professor Umbridge was ignoring her.

                More and more people gave up on the text to watch Hermione.  Hell, even perfect-student Kurama had his eyes off his textbook, but knowing him, it was possible he'd already finished the chapter.

                Eventually Umbridge had to address the situation.

                "Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" she asked Hermione.

                "Not about the chapter, no," said Hermione.

                "Well, we're reading just now.  If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class." 

                "I've got a query about your course aims," said Hermione.

                Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows.

                "And your name is?"

                "Hermione Granger," said Hermione.

                "Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," said Professor Umbridge in a voice of determined sweetness.

                "Well, I don't," said Hermione bluntly.  "There's nothing written up there about _using defensive spells."_

                Kurama, behind her, gave an approving nod.

                "_Using _defensive spells?" Professor Umbridge repeated with a little laugh.  "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to _use_ a defensive spell, Miss Granger.  You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"

                "We're not going to use magic?" Ron said.  

                A murmur ran through the classroom at this question.  It seemed the other Gryffindors were not happy with this idea.  Professor Umbridge responded by turning even more syrupy-sweet.  The Gryffindors responded by outraged arguments.

                With the rest of the class absorbed in the quarrel, the Urameshi team had some freedom to whisper among themselves. 

                "Let me get this straight," muttered Yusuke.  "This old witch is going to take the one class that sounded like it just _might_ be interesting and do nothing except read from a textbook that wouldn't even make good toilet paper?"

                "It's worse than that -- much worse.  She's from the Ministry of Magic.  If the Ministry will not admit that Voldemort has returned, then they certainly won't take any warnings about demons seriously.  Oh, no wonder Koenma is so concerned about this mission!" whispered Botan, wringing her hands together. 

Professor Umbridge smiled at the class with sickening sweetness.  "I repeat: do you expect to be attacked by dark forces in my classroom?"

                "Is that a challenge?" muttered Hiei.  Yusuke snickered.

                Ron, seated just in front of them, overheard.  All the blood seemed to drain out of his face, making his freckles stand out even more.  He turned to Harry to see if the other boy had noticed -- but Harry was glaring at Professor Umbridge.

                Then Harry opened his mouth.  Ron watched in horror as Harry shouted at the teacher.  Shouted that Voldemort was alive and dangerous, that the Ministry was lying.  Ron wanted to tell Harry to shut up…and wanted to shout with him.  

                "Detention, Mr. Potter!" Professor Umbridge called, pulling out parchment and scribbling a note.  "Take this to Professor McGonagall."

                "Now, if everyone will return to their texts, please," said Professor Umbridge with a smile more retchingly saccharine than anything she had conjured previously.  "'Basics for Beginners,' page five."

                "Pathetic," said Hiei, barely glancing at his text and not bothering to whisper.

                Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows.  "Excuse me?" she said, looking for the speaker.

                "This book is pathetic," said Hiei calmly. 

                (Kuwabara choked.  "Aaaack!  You can't just say stuff like that to a teacher, shrimp!"

                "Why not?  Harry just did."  Yusuke shrugged.)

                "Your hand is not raised, Mr --?" said Professor Umbridge.

                Hiei stared at her.  Kurama correctly interpreted this as _Why should I tell you, fool?_  He sighed and stepped in before things got too far out of hand.  

                "Hiei Jaganshi," Kurama said, standing up and pointing around their little group, "Kazuma Kuwabara, Botan, Yusuke Urameshi, and Shuichi Minamino."  He gave a little bow.  "Please forgive us.  We are not quite used to the customs here."

                "Oh, the foreign students.  Well, Mr. Minamino, I do hope that you'll remember to raise your hand next time, as well," said Professor Umbridge, though she looked on Kurama more kindly.  Kurama bowed again in acknowledgement and sat down.        

Professor Umbridge turned back to Hiei.  "Now, do you have a problem with the text, Mr. Jaganshi?"

                "Only that it's a waste of time.  If someone wants to fight, then they'll fight.  Pretending that everything can be peaceful only makes for easier targets."

"Well, Mr. Jaganshi," said Umbridge with another falsely sweet smile, "While I am sure your opinions are very interesting, Dr. Slinkhard is a ministry-approved professional.  Do you really believe you know the material better than he does?"

Hiei smiled back.  Those who knew to look for it could see his fangs.  

                "I _am_ Dark Arts Material," the fire demon stated.

                ("He does have a point," said Kurama, under his breath.  Kuwabara and Botan nodded emphatically.)

                "Mr. Jaganshi, while I cannot claim to know the traditions of your home, around here we expect you to treat your instructors with a little more courtesy," said Professor Umbridge, her sugar-coating beginning to crack.

                Hiei shrugged.  Kurama interpreted this as _why should I? _  Apparently, so did Professor Umbridge.

                "Ten points from Gryffindors," she snapped, "And I think some time in detention may do you some good, Mr. Jaganshi.  Now, everyone back to your reading!" 

****************

                It seemed like the entire school had heard about Harry's shouting match with Professor Umbridge by dinnertime.  Harry walked through a sea of whispers, trying to concentrate on what Ron and Hermione were saying instead of the speculative looks he was getting from the rest of the hall. 

                _"He saws he saw Cedric Diggory murdered…."_

_                "He reckons he dueled with You-Know-Who…."_

_                "Come off it_…."

                Hermione spoke over the whispers.  "I've been asking around to see if anyone else has noticed anything odd about the new students, but…" Hermione hesitated.

                "They're all too busy noticing how strange I am, is that it?" Harry said bitterly.

                _"Who does he think he's kidding?_"

                Hermione blew out a breath.  "In part.  But most of them also think that the new students are, well, pretty neat.  About half the girls have decided that they're in love with Shuichi."

                "But he's a git!" said Ron violently.  "You heard how he was sucking up to Umbridge earlier."

                "Yes, but he's a handsome git," said Hermione calmly.  "And he wasn't really sucking up, he was just being polite."

                "Aaargh!  Hermione, not you too!"

                "Relax, Ron.  Anyway, some of our classmates think that Hiei is a little frightening, but that's the worst I've heard about any of the Japanese students."  

"A little frightening?  Hermione, the kid practically admitted to being a dark wizard!  And Harry's going to be stuck in detention with him and a lady who, one, may be the most incompetent Dark Arts teacher we've ever had, even counting Lockhart, and, two, won't believe that there's any danger.  It's a nightmare!  Harry's going to be toast!" said Ron.  

"Extra-crispy, too, from what we saw in the clearing," he added after a moment's thought.

********************

                _I will NOT let her know she's gotten to me,_ Harry thought, gritting his teeth as he wrote 'I must not tell lies' yet again.  _I WON'T._

Harry had arrived at Umbridge's office promptly at five that day.  Hiei had already been there, sitting at a tiny, doily-bedecked table with a decorative plate of a kitten in a hat hanging on the wall above his head.  The short boy had looked so comically irritated and out of place under the ridiculous kitten that Harry had forgotten his own problems for a moment.

                Then Umbridge had cleared her throat (_hem, hem), pointed him to his own foul little table by an equally repulsive plate, handed him a quill, and told him to write 'I must not tell lies.'  _

                "You haven't given me any ink," Harry had said, holding the quill.

                "Oh, you won't need ink," the professor had replied.  Harry had understood when he wrote the first line.  The words had appeared, bright red on the parchment.  They had appeared on the back of Harry's hand at the same time, thin and sharp as if traced there by a scalpel.  The cut had healed over in a few seconds, only to reappear as he wrote the next line.

                _I will NOT let her know that she's gotten to me.  I will not give her that satisfaction_.

                Harry was pulled away from his thoughts by the smell of something burning.  He looked at the teacher, wondering what new torture she was planning, and found her staring at the other desk.  Harry blinked.  He'd forgotten about Hiei's detention.  _Stupid! He's one of the ones I'm supposed to be watching!_

                The Japanese boy seemed to be sitting calmly at his desk, writing "I will show respect for my teachers," while wisps of smoke curled up from his parchment.  A moment later the edge of the sheet caught fire.  Professor Umbridge gasped.  Harry, remembering the forest, said nothing.    

                The flames crept across the parchment until they wrapped around the boy's hand.  Hiei wrote on, undisturbed by the parchment turning to ashes under his quill.  When the sheet had burned too far to hold together, much less hold ink, Hiei brushed it aside and pulled out a fresh scroll.  The edges began to char within a minute.   

                This went on for five more sheets, by which time the lace doily was charred black and the table itself was starting to smolder.   Hiei's hand, in contrast, appeared untouched -- Harry's own was red and raw by this point.  

                Professor Umbridge looked quite pale when she turned and told Hiei that he could leave.  After he'd gathered his things and walked out the door, she turned back to Harry, struggling to regain her composure.  

                "What are you waiting for?" she said.  "Keep writing!"

                Harry wasn't released from detention until after midnight. 

*********************************

_Additional Author's Notes_

_First, many thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed.  It makes my day to find a _(creative, wonderful, bright, positive) _review in my inbox.   _

_Second, my apologies for all those who waited so long for an update -- but I can't guarantee that they'll be faster in the future.  I started writing this for fun, at my own pace; I cannot imagine proceeding any other way._

_Lastly, regarding the fifth Harry Potter book:  Right now I'm trying  to avoid any horrible, gigantic contradictions with either Rowling's work or with the timeline I've already set up.  There will be small differences -- note that the Gryffindor's class schedule here is quite different from the one in _Order of the Phoenix -- _but nothing completely out of place in either Rowling's world or my own…or so I hope._

_For anyone who bothered to read this far, I am pleased to present:_

_Special Deleted Scene!!!_

                The Gryffindor Fifth Years -- and the Slytherin Fifth Years, unfortunately -- were gathered outside Hagrid's cottage for their first Care of Magical Creatures lesson of the year.  Hagrid was nowhere in sight.  Instead, Professor Grubbly-Plank stood by a long trestle-table covered with twigs.  

                The twigs were twitching.  Yusuke and Kuwabara twitched, too, when some of them jumped up.

                "Oh, great.  We've dealt with walking rocks, now we have walking sticks, too?" Yusuke muttered.  

                "Not sticks," whispered Kurama, looking both enlightened and fascinated.  "Bowtruckles.  Tree-sprites."

                "Everybody here?  Let's crack on then -- who can tell me what these things are called?" said Professor Grubbly-Plank.

                Yusuke poked Kurama -- "What did you saw they were, again?" -- but the fox spirit just shook his head, and Hermione already had her hand up.  Professor Grubbly-Plank called on her.  "Miss Granger!"

                "Bowtruckles," Hermione answered.  "They're tree-guardians, usually live in wand-trees."

                "Five points for Gryffindor," said the professor.  "Yes, these are bow-truckles and, as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality.  Anybody know what they eat?"

                Yusuke poked Kurama again.  "Come on, fox boy.  I know you know this stuff."

                "And you don't, so be quiet and listen," said Kurama, softly.

                Hermione answered again while they argued.  "Wood lice, but fairy eggs if they can get them."

                "Good girl, take another five points."  Professor Grubbly-Plank said.  She then dealt out one bowtruckle per group of three students and instructed each student to make and label a sketch of the creature by the end of the lesson.

                Yusuke ended up sharing a bowtruckle with Botan and Kuwabara; Kurama and Hiei were working together with Neville Longbottom, who seemed to have become quite attached to the redhead.  

"I thought that some guy called Hagrid was supposed to be teaching this class," Yusuke said, idly sketching. 

                "He is," Botan said.  "I've heard rumors that Dumbledore sent Hagrid on a secret mission this summer, and that he hasn't returned yet."

                Kuwabara poked at their bowtruckle to try and get it to move to a better position.  It hissed at him.  A few feet away, the twig-thing assigned to Neville, Kurama, and Hiei was cooing happily.  Yusuke tossed aside his sketch and leaned back in the cool grass.  Across the class he could hear Malfoy and his henchmen loudly maligning the absent Hagrid, to the obvious irritation of the Gryffindors, especially Harry.

                "That blond kid's a real asshole," Yusuke muttered.  "Doesn't Harry ever get a break?"

                Neville heard and answered.  "Not really.  Harry's always being singled out for something or other.  Sometimes it's something good, but usually it's either bad, or dangerous, or both.  I don't think he likes being the center of attention very much…and there's been all this junk in the papers recently about Harry making up stories to keep that attention.  Rubbish, I think, but now a lot of the school thinks he's nuts because of it."  Neville subsided, looking surprised that he'd said as much as he had.

                "Yeah, that would kind of suck," said Yusuke, looking uncharacteristically thoughtful.

                They were interrupted by a muffled yelp.

                Apparently Neville wasn't the only one at Hogwarts to become attached to Kurama.

"Hiei," said Kurama, faintly, "could please get this bowtruckle out of my hair?"     __

 


	6. Life as Usual at Hogwarts equals Weird

_**Life as Usual at Hogwarts equals Weird**_

With the strange new students, arguably evil teachers, and threat of dark wizards, Harry had almost forgotten about the (comparatively) mundane and less dangerous irritations of life at Hogwarts. In short, he had nearly forgotten the Slytherins...at least until he and Ron turned down a hallway and found Draco Malfoy tormenting one of his favorite targets.

Neville Longbottom stood backed into a corner, white-faced and shaking, holding his _mimbulus mimbletonia_ before him like a shield. Malfoy was right in front of him, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. The Gryffindor boy should have been on his way to Herbology; Harry figured that Neville had wanted to show Professor Sprout his plant's progress. From what Malfoy was saying, the stink-cactus-thing wouldn't make it to the greenhouse. Neither might Neville.

_In five years, hasn't Malfoy grown up at all? _thought Harry, irritated, as he and Ron moved to defend Neville. _Doesn't he know there is more important stuff going on?_ Though if Malfoy did know anything about Voldemort's return, it would be from the other side's viewpoint. Harry opened his mouth --

"Leave him alone, Malfoy. If anyone's going to be doing the bullying around here, it'll be me," said Yusuke Urameshi.

Draco spun around to see where this challenge came from. He didn't even notice Harry and Ron, looking instead to the far end of the hall where Yusuke waited with Kurama and Kuwabara.

"Oh, it's the new boy," said Malfoy, dismissively. "You should stay out of this, if you know what's good for you."

"Yeah, I've never been much good at that," said Yusuke. He did not seem the least bit intimidated.

Malfoy seemed annoyed that the other Gryffindors weren't disappearing like they were supposed to after one of his threats. Then inspiration struck and he tapped his prefect badge. "Prefect business. That plant is a hazard to the rest of the school. Of course, so is Longbottom, but we can't do _too_ much about him."

"Prefect business, huh? Damn, I knew I should have done something about this little problem I've got with authority," said Yusuke. "Now drop the bullshit and leave the kid alone. If you're going to pick a fight, have the guts to pick on someone who wants to fight back."

Malfoy snapped his fingers. Crabbe and Goyle took up station in front of him like two miniature mountains. "Now who would want to fight back?" he said.

Yusuke grinned. "I would."

Malfoy sneered at him. Crabbe alone was nearly double the size of the Japanese boy, and dwarfed even Kuwabara. "Should I be cowering in fear now?"

"That would be a good idea, yeah," said Yusuke, and stepped forward.

Harry, with his Quidditch-quick eyes, caught the flicker of motion as Yusuke's hand shot out. Most of the other bystanders only saw Crabbe and Goyle stagger back and crash against the walls on either side of a wide-eyed Neville Longbottom. They did not get back up.

"Was that magic?" Ron whispered.

Harry shook his head. "I think he just hit them."

"What, with his fists?"

"Yeah."

"_Bloody hell_."

Now Yusuke advanced on Draco, who pulled out his wand and pointed it at the Japanese boy.

"Stay back! I'm warning you!" Malfoy said.

"You did that earlier. I didn't listen then, either," Yusuke said. He didn't bother to take out his own wand (and didn't know how to use it, anyway). He just reached out, yanked Malfoy's wand out of his grasp, and tossed it behind him.

For one instant Malfoy just stood there speechlessly. Then he scrambled backwards and grabbed the nearest object -- the _mimbulus mimbletonia _in Neville's hands -- and heaved it at Yusuke. Yusuke dodged easily.

Neville cried out and awkwardly lunged after his plant. Harry saw that Neville would never be able to catch it, and leapt forward. The pot brushed against his fingertips. He held on.

The poor cactus had had enough by this point, and let loose. Stinksap arced across the hall. Harry cringed. But somehow, miraculously (well, _demonically _is more accurate, but only the Urameshi Team knew it, and they all grinned at Kurama) the odorous liquid missed everyone except the three Slytherins.

Malfoy had backed into the same corner where he'd earlier trapped Neville. For once the sneer was gone from his face, and he looked almost as shaky as Neville had been. Harry wondered how he felt, now that he was on the other side of the bullying, and almost felt sorry for him.

Yusuke shook his head. Said, "And the real trouble with you, Malfoy, is that you're not even worth the fight," and flicked Malfoy on the nose with his index finger.

The results of this were unexpected to anyone who didn't know Yusuke well, because Malfoy's head snapped back and he fell onto his butt. One hand flew up to his face to catch the blood dripping from his nose.

But then Malfoy looked up, and between the stinksap-slimed hair and bloody nose, his eyes were alight with malicious triumph. Professor Umbridge was coming up the hall.

* * *

"One week! The new kid lands three Slytherins in the infirmary and only gets a week of detention! All Harry has to do is open his mouth in Umbridge's class and he's got detention practically for a month! Bet Uramashi wouldn't even have gotten a week if he hadn't picked on one of Umbridge's favorites." Ron still thought that the new students were dark wizards. It probably hadn't been a good idea to pair him with Hiei during Transfiguration practice. Hermione had come up with the idea -- if they were going to keep an eye on the Japanese kids, then they'd better start working with them. She'd gotten Kurama as her partner. The class was still learning Vanishing charms. The two of them together had accounted for a cageful of mice. The most any other student had achieved was some slight transparency, and Harry (who'd been working with Botan) hadn't even managed that.

All of Ron's mice had run away in fear. Ron was pretty darn sure that it hadn't been fear of _him_.

Harry and Hermione were still uncertain about the new students. Hermione (when they'd told her about the fight) had argued that dark wizards were unlikely to stand up for Neville. She had however been concerned when she'd learned that Crabbe and Goyle had been carried, unconscious, to the hospital wing.

Harry thought of the arm in the clearing and wondered if Yusuke had been taking it easy on the Slytherins.

Altogether, the three Gryffindors were just as confused as they'd ever been. And while Hermione had found some time to research, all that she'd discovered was that demons were Class Five Magical Creatures, to be approached only with extreme caution by experienced wizards. There had not even been a picture to go with the lack of description.

* * *

Hermione had promised to raid the library again to see if she could find anymore about demons, and Ron was trying to grab whatever extra Quidditch practice he could. Harry wished he could have helped either of them, but his homework overload was reaching critical proportions. He was on his way back to the Gryffindor common room to try to get it back under control when he saw Fred and George hurrying down the hall towards him. He began to call out a greeting. It came out as a squeak when they grabbed him by his elbows and dragged him along with them, very fast.

"You don't want to go that way, mate," said George.

"Trust us," Fred added.

"What did you two do this time?" Harry asked, struggling to keep pace with them while walking backwards.

"Oh, nothing much," said Fred.

"Just a little mix-up with some dungbombs --"

"And dragon manure, got to remember to thank Charlie for that --"

"And a _slightly_ faulty levitation spell --"

"Just over the door to Umbridge's office."

"Shame we missed Umbridge."

"Did manage to nail Filch, though."

"Didn't expect the witch to see us, though."

"Yeah, she moves a lot faster than you'd think for someone built like a toad."

"Just hope she can't keep it up for very long."

It took Harry a minute to sort through the twin-speak, and then he got very worried.

"You mean you stayed around to watch?" he asked.

"Of course. Else what's the point?" Fred answered.

"And Umbridge saw you?"

"More like she caught a glimpse as we were fleeing the scene," said George.

"And followed," said Fred.

"You mean Umbridge is right behind you?" said Harry.

"You're the one looking backwards, man. You tell us."

Harry, looking, saw the dumpy figure reach the hall just as the twins turned round a corner. "Walk faster," he said.

"We're trying," said Fred, fervently.

"Let's just say that we picked a bad week to work on the Fever Fudge," said George.

One of the tapestries on the side of the wall twitched open, and a hand waved out of what looked like solid stone. "In here, quickly!" called a soft voice. Fred and George looked at each other, then dived right through the place in the wall where the hand was.

They found themselves in a deep alcove, dimly lit by the hall lamps shining through threadbare patches in the wall hanging. Shuichi Minamino stood just behind the tapestry, peeking through a particularly large hole.

The Weasely twins dropped Harry and scrambled back to entrance to find their own spy-holes. After a moment's hesitation, Harry followed.

They could here footsteps coming up the hall at a quick jittering pace -- and another sound, too. Umbridge was tapping the walls with her wand as she went along. Harry held his breath as she approached their hiding place. Her wand hit the tapestry not far from Harry's face -- and bounced off again with a faint _clunking _sound that any bit of wood might make on hitting cloth-covered rock. Umbridge hurried on. In moments she was out of sight; a moment more and the sound of her footsteps faded away.

Fred Weasely let out a long breath, and then grinned. "That was pretty close for a minute, wasn't it? Thanks for the assist, mate," he said to Shuichi. "How did you find this place? George and I must have crawled this corridor a dozen times looking for a good hiding-hole and didn't know it was here."

Shuichi smiled. "I have...something of a gift for secret spaces and hidden objects. I believe that this particular room doesn't show itself unless you already suspect that it is there."

"Yeah? Have you checked out the fourth floor corridor yet near the Ravenclaw wing?"

"You mean have I found the passage behind the painting of the old castle?"

"What about the dungeons, not too far from the Potion's classroom?"

"The grating where you have to tap the third bar twice with your wand, then hit the second bar three times?"

George raised his eyebrows. "He _is _good. It took us almost a year to figure that one out, and he's barely been here a week."

"Ah, we were only pitiful First Years then," said Fred, waving a hand. "Now we're older, wiser--"

"Taller, sneakier --"

"And have a more refined sense of humor," Fred said, paused, and amended, "Most of the time."

"Exactly how many secret passageways does this castle have?" asked Harry in fascination.

"We don't know yet," said George.

"But we do plan on finding out. Eventually." said Fred. "Now, we've had our suspicions about this patch of wall near the Quidditch field..."

* * *

Harry was still awake (mostly), working on one of his extra essays for Snape, when Yusuke came back from his last day of detention.

He heard the faint creak of the Fat Lady's portrait swinging open, and a much louder noise as it was slammed shut again. Yusuke stomped into the common room, swearing under his breath. He stopped when he saw Harry and stared instead.

A little uncomfortable with the strange boy, Harry looked down -- and saw the familiar marks from Umbridge's pen across the back of Yusuke's right hand. Then Harry blinked, adjusted his glasses, and looked again.

The words 'I WILL NOT FIGHT' were written there in heavy messy lines. But Yusuke had added two other scratches -- clearer, deeper, and more natural than those left by Umbridge's quill, crossing over the 'NOT.' Crossing it out. Changing the message.

He felt the grin forming, and looked up to find Yusuke grinning wryly back at him. The new student gave him half a wave and disappeared up the stairs to the boy's dormitory.

Harry sat there for a long time after Yusuke had left, wondering about a question very different from the uses of wolfsbane in potion-making.

_So what are you fighting for?_

By breakfast the next morning, when Harry saw Yusuke again, all the marks were gone.


End file.
